


Episode 1.18: Out of Damage Control

by Starbooks13



Series: Spiders Have To Stick Together [18]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: BAMF Natasha, BAMF Phil Coulson, Blending Universes, Canon Compliant, Coulson is a Good Friend, Foreshadowing, Gen, Natasha Feels, Protective!Natasha, Some angst, Spiders Have To Stick Together, The Wrecking Crew Sobs Like Little Girls, Villainous Schemes, Women Being Awesome, sort of not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-20
Updated: 2013-12-20
Packaged: 2018-01-05 05:52:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1090370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starbooks13/pseuds/Starbooks13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the Wrecking Crew are not that smart and Natasha tells Phil a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Episode 1.18: Out of Damage Control

                Coulson watched the monitor with amusement as Natasha interrogated the Wrecking Crew.  Parker’s comment had made sense: their plan had been surprisingly sophisticated, and these idiots couldn’t spell “sophisticated” even if they had the word right in front of them.  They were muscle, not brains.  There was a very good chance someone else was pulling their strings.

                Of course, Natasha being Natasha, all she had to do was threaten to use some very nasty-looking adamantium knives on the supposedly indestructible Crew, and they all broke down sobbing like little girls.  Of course, she’d had to use the knives a little on the Wrecker, who as the leader was keeping the others from talking, but his screams of pain were enough to get the others to start talking.

                But their answers didn’t make sense.  “They got the plan via an anonymous email message?” Fury echoed when they told him, standing in his office.  “You have got to be kidding me.”

                “They swear on their lives they’re telling the truth,” Natasha said.  “And I’m inclined to believe them.”

                “Our analysts have confirmed the existence of this email,” Coulson added.  “But when they tried digging to find who it belonged to, they hit a dead end.  It’s almost as though the email just…appeared in the inbox, as if by,” he grimaced.  He did not want to say this, but he had to.  “As if by magic.”

                Fury looked displeased, but Natasha even more so—and her report wasn’t done yet.  “Sir, there’s more.  The email also specifically asked them to try to discredit or eliminate the kids—Spider-Man was mentioned by name.”

                Fury sat back and rubbed his temples. “Get Strange to look at it.  If there’s a magical entity after the kids, we need to know and we need to take precautions.  Fast.”

                “Sir.” Coulson nodded and left, Natasha following him.  But once they were outside the office, Coulson turned to Natasha.  “Natasha, what do you know?”

                Her face was blank, completely inscrutable, the mask that Coulson couldn’t read.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Coulson.”

                “I don’t believe you, but I can’t force you to tell me anything.  Please, Natasha, we’re all trying to keep the kids safe.”

                Natasha’s mask cracked, just a bit.  “I made a mistake, Phil,” she said quietly.  “I played a dangerous game to try to help Peter, and in the process I underestimated my opponent.  Now Peter’s life is in even greater danger, and his blood will be on my hands.”

                Coulson’s scars throbbed in sudden sympathy.  “Loki,” he murmured.

                “Yes,” Natasha said, turning to him.  “I talked to Strange already, and he’s cast a spell to amplify Peter’s Spider-Sense to detect magical threats.  But he has to trust it absolutely, Phil.  You need to impress upon Peter the absolute importance of trusting his sense.”

                “Of course,” Coulson said, completely nonplussed.  “But what did you-?”

                “Please, don’t tell anyone,” she interrupted, surprisingly fervent.  “Especially not Peter or Thor.  Just be ready.”

                Coulson knew when to pick his battles with Natasha—this was definitely one he just needed to let drop.  She had trusted him with something that clearly troubled her, and he wasn’t going to betray that trust.  “Don’t worry Natasha.  I will be.”

                Besides, nobody, not even Loki, messed with his kids without a fight.

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was inspired by Peter's surprise in the episode about how the Wrecking Crew actually came up with a pretty good plan. I personally don't find them overly intelligent as villains, and so a little plot bunny of "What if there was someone else behind them?" came into being. And since the Wrecking Crew's powers are Asgardian in origin...the rest was history. :)
> 
> On another note, all these bits hinting at Loki's ultimate revenge on Peter are building up to Season 1, Episode 20, "Run Pig Run." If you have not watched it, do. It's one of my favorite episodes of the series, and not just because of Loki (though he's a big part of it) or Coulson finally showing his badassery in-series (though that's a huge plus). As a little tease, my episode tag on that will be the confrontation between Loki and Natasha after everything goes down.


End file.
